I really enjoyed the mystery element to this book, it had that suspenseful atmosphere that I was hoping for. I enjoyed the way Elizabeth Agyemang wrote both the story and the characters in this world and thought it was a great young adult novel. I enjoyed the concept and it left me wanting to read more from Elizabeth Agyemang.

Tommy is the prank king but he is also not a nice guy who has been stringing at least three girls along. Tommy had one big prank planned for their senior night in an amusement park but it all goes wrong very quickly and when Tommy ends up dead all of their secrets are in danger. A page turner for sure with everyone pointing the finger at each other!

This book was AMAZING. I loved all the ways the author wrote to try and convince the reader that they had figured everything out, and then gave little pieces of information to slowly lead up to the reveal at the end. It ended up being an ending that I would never have guessed, and I really loved seeing how the character's relationships with each other changed throughout the book, with the three girls beginning to be able to be friends towards the end.

I generally like books this publisher publishes, but I did not like this one. There were certain parts of this book that drew me in, but it really fell flat for me as I read. Literally, I feel like it took soooooooooooooo loooonnnnngggggg to get to 20% and I couldn't read anymore.
Besides being slow, less of the fast-paced thriller that I wanted, it was a tad confusing. I don't even know how to explain it. Honestly, if the execution was better, and the plot more perfected, then maybe just maybe I would have liked it.

The intro to this book is what drew my attention in. John Tucker must die meets a good girls guide to murder um yes please!! Normally YA is not my normal reading type, but the introduction pulled me in so deep I had to give this a try and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It does have longer chapters, but the plot of the story keeps you so intrigued to know what’s going on you don’t miss the short chapters. Going through this book reminds me a lot of pretty little liars, you know the one? Where you would SWEAR one person did it and be 100% confident and then be bamboozled to find out it wasn’t them. Yesss brought me back those vibes and I was here for it. Thank you NetGalley for an arc copy

It was a fast-paced, quick read with plenty of drama and intrigue. It felt very pro-girl with the ending and centered on the power of telling our own stories.

4⭐️
Publisher: Random House Children's
Publication Date: Nov 26, 2024

Tommy was not a nice guy. He was borderline abusive to his girlfriend and those around him. He was stringing other girls along. He was a much loved internet sensation. He is dead.

My Thoughts

I know a lot of people dislike chapters in books written as social media posts, but I'm here for it!!! I think it's a fun new writing style and get enjoyment out of it. That being said, you can absolutely skip the into social post page and still get the whole story. Just start at chapter One Kiara.

This book is not for the short chapter lovers, but...... if you don't mind long chapters that engage you with different characters' mindsets, then dive right in. That's exactly what I did.

I LOVED this read. I was engrossed from the very first page. YA is not my normal read, yet I found myself hurtling back in time to when I was a teen. The author has done a magnificent of capturing the raw emotions of teenagers. The impulsiveness and naivety. Thinking they are making smart choices when really that don't have the ability to see they are walking straight into harms way.

The book is perfect for anyone over 13. Teens will completely relate, and adults will remember. It is all so well written.

Kiara was my favorite character. She represents us all. Trapped without being able to see the way out of a bad relationship. Worried about the repercussions of just walking away. How easily her whole life ended up revolving around a guy who was nothing but wrong.

I related the most to Neveah. Totally innocent and clueless. Walking around in a world she knew nothing about and unable to navigate. A sheltered church girl who thought she had found Mr. RIGHT. I think we all find ourselves ourselves in deep water sometimes. It is how we swim through it that counts. She swims with courage while trying to figure out who she is and who she wants to be.

Priscilla is THAT girl. The one we all love to hate. Self-serving and self-centered. The one you don't trust with your boyfriend. The last person you trust or expect to come through. At times, she surprised me.

Just read the book. I can't recommend it enough.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the free ACR for review. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to Delacorte for granting me this ARC!

I saw this cover and was instantly intrigued, and was then hooked by the tagline "if you like A Good Girls Guide to Murder, try this!" So, in all honesty, my expectations were a little high.
I have to admit, this author knows how to write a villain. And throughout, she had me convinced, at one point or another, that each person did it. She is a great storyteller!
While the ending was a surprise (I was wrong on who I thought did it), I felt as if it wasn't that big of a reveal. And I found that I didn't feel a lot of tension or suspense, mainly just general wonderment.
It was like watching the news with a breaking story of a murder, rather than watching a dateline special.
I really liked this book! I just think I went in with a little too high of expectations.

What happens when you’re a trash bag and you’re dating 3 different girls at once? Karma is a B.

Tommy is an internet prank star. He has millions of followers and a whole entourage, who helps him with his videos. This includes his girlfriend, Kiara, his cohost, Priscilla as well as his stepbrother and best friend. The problem is, he’s not very nice to any of them. When his lies catch up to him, the question isn’t did someone get revenge, it’s who?

This wasn’t as fast paced and thrilling as I had hoped. The first 50% was build up and we learned that Tommy was a terrible person. He was mean and emotionally abusive to his girlfriend all while cheating on her with his cohost and a nice church girl he was corrupting. Sorry to say I don’t feel bad for him. The “pranks” were stupid and not funny. If I saw them on tiktok, this is not someone I would follow.

Regardless of all that, the after wasn’t all that thrilling either. We follow the 3 girls as they navigate how Tommy made them feel and how to put the pieces of their lives back together so they’re not the focus of the internet all while trying to find out what actually happened the night Tommy died.

I liked the characters enough and the story was intriguing, however I think it fell a bit short on execution. I think this is one of the slower thrillers I’ve read, but overall, I enjoyed the premise and it kept me interested enough to keep reading.

I really struggled to get into this book. Marketed as "John Tucker Must Die meets A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder," I expected this to be right up my alley. Ultimately, I just couldn't get into it and didn't love it and it just wasn't for me.

This might just be a case of right book, wrong reader, as it seems like other reviewers really enjoyed it!!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kiara, Priscilla and Nevaeh find out they are all dating Tommy Harding, an Internet teen prank star and all around rotten person. Kiara is his public girlfriend, Priscilla is an influencer and co-stars in videos with him online and Nevaeh, a church girl, has met him online.

Once Tommy is exposed all three girls are furious. But then Tommy’s body is found. Did one of the girls get revenge?

Oh, not a big fan of books where the girls are with boys who treat them terribly as Tommy does here. This just normalizes the behavior for girls who read these books. If they have to be in fierce competition, can’t it be for valedictorian, not for a complete ass like Tommy? Ugh.

I absolutely 100% knew *exactly* who the hacker/culprit/killer was from the set-up. Reading lots of YA thrillers can sometimes be a let down because it can make you scrutinize small details that make "twists" feel unsurprising and disappointing. Let me clarify, however, that I WAS NOT let down by the "twist"--even though I knew WHO the culprit was probably going to be, there was MUCH more to it than that...you know, motive, execution, etc....And let me tell you something, I think I liked it better having this "idea" in my head.
This book accomplishes some pretty great things with it's character's--there is a very distinct feminist message that this author accomplishes by using these character's very distinct and different personalities, motives, identities, and desires and crafting them into complex characters that represent the way a lot of media, even social media portrays power in relationships AS WELL AS who is targeted or blamed when the relationship isn't really what it appears. There is so much internalized misogyny in the way the media looks at relationships, so it was really interesting to have this dive into the mindset of these female characters, who are all QUITE aware of how HORRIBLE the guy they are with behaves/treats them/treats others, but still, at least for the first good portion of the novel, are pit against EACH OTHER because of his bad actions. Even when the three main girls are having things slowly exposed to them, they would seemingly rather EXPOSE AND ATTACK EACH OTHER rather than go after the man that did this to them in the first place.
It isn't until the final chunk of the book that they each sort of confront that part of themselves that we see the actual pieces of the story unravel and the "twist" culprit, when revealed, seems to just give more evidence to the narrative that instead of "hating the girlfriend"(or the side-girl, even), the true villain in the story was the crappy guy who cared more about his "image" than he ever did about anyone but himself.

If you ever wanted someone to spin "Cell Block Tango" into an excellently crafted teen thriller, you're about to get your wish.

A poignant spin on the lengths people will go to for fame, and an unexpectedly raw portrayal of what being a "girl's girl" often becomes in culture... and what it means to truly become one.